Lehigh University Athletics
League race heats up as Lehigh hosts Holy Cross, Army
10/21/2010 7:51:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team will open the second half of its Patriot League schedule this weekend when Holy Cross visits Leeman-Turner Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. and Army makes the trip to Bethlehem on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Mountain Hawks (9-10, 3-4 Patriot League) defeated the Crusaders, 3-1, earlier this season and fell to the Black Knights by the same score.
The Mountain Hawks split a pair of matches last weekend, defeating Navy by a 3-1 count on Friday and falling to league-leader American on Saturday by a 3-0 score. Lehigh's attack features three players with over 150 kills in junior Angelika Kopacz (212), freshman Courtney McCutchan (166) and sophomore Taylor Poole (159). Poole also leads the team in hitting percentage (.289) and blocks (59) and is tied for second on the squad with 20 service aces. Freshman Rachel Charles has compiled 305 digs to go along with a team-best 25 aces.
Holy Cross (10-16, 2-5) enters Friday's match in sixth place in the league standings. Megan Lynch is the team's offensive leader with 350 kills and Chelsey O'Donnell is the primary setter with 850 assists. Angela Chisholm leads the team with 346 digs, while Kathleen Colpoys owns a team-best 43 blocks. When Lehigh and Holy Cross met on September 25, Kopacz, McCutchan and junior Jessica Kudirka each recorded double-doubles. Poole posted 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage for Lehigh, while Lynch put away 16 kills for the hosts.Army (13-10, 6-1) is currently in second place in the Patriot League standings, one match back of American. Ariana Mankus averages 3.47 kills per set, good for the fourth-best mark in the league. Karyn Powell's 9.35 assists/set average is the second highest clip in the league, while Amanda Rowell's 0.90 blocks/set average is tied for fourth among league players. When Lehigh met Army on September 24, Kopacz (12 kills, 12 digs) and McCutchan (11 kills, 12 digs) each tallied double-doubles. Mankus also recorded a double-double with a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs.
Including the results from earlier this season, the Mountain Hawks are 27-11 all-time vs. Holy Cross and 12-26 overall against Army. The Black Knights are currently on a 14-match win streak against Lehigh dating back to 2003.
With the top four teams in the league standings advancing to the Patriot League Tournament, the Mountain Hawks currently sit fifth, but are only one match back of fourth-place Colgate with seven contests remaining on the schedule. Behind American (7-0) in first and Army (6-1) in second, Bucknell (5-2) currently sits third with Colgate (4-3) and Lehigh (3-4) in hot pursuit. Holy Cross (2-5) stands in sixth, while Navy (1-6) and Lafayette (0-7) round out spots seven and eight, respectively.
Live stats will be available for both matches this weekend and live video will also be available for Friday's match on Lehighsports.com.
Volleyball vs. Holy Cross
Saturday, November 08
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Friday, October 10
Volleyball vs. American
Saturday, October 04
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